Paintball Gets Bad Press in Montreal

[cdacda13]

Thats what happens when you dont tighten your mask. Its a shame that this could have been prevented. And over shooting is to blame also.

(that spelled mom, mum.)

[SlartyBartFast]

here i can acyually say...."BLAME CANADA".

Well, you didn't use smilies, but I sure hope that was tongue-in-cheek sarcasm and not ignorant raving.

Paintball has the same image problem in the US as it does in Canada. The traditional established sports are accepted and their risks and abuses are overlooked by society.

Making sure such reports put our sport in comparison to others is one of the important lessons of threads like these.

This was a hosptal new release. And, I've found them to be a bit overractive on a number of occasions. This past winter they kept goin on about the dangers of tobboganing on icy hills.

They'd have us all wrapped in cotton wool if it was up to them.

[Jeffy-CanCon]

I also agree that 10 is too young to play. But how long now till we see differnet sized goggles for younger players?

JT started making kid-sized goggles (XFire) in the mid-90's. I don't know if anyone still makes smaller sizes.

I can speak from experience that by the time a person reaches 12-13, their head is usually as big as it's going to get.

[Temo Vryce]

I don't know what field that this happened at but I can guess which, mostly because I know the owners and I really feel bad for them. I feel worse for the kid though. I can't begin to imagine how badly the kid who lit his friend up feels about all of this. I hope that everything works out for everyone involved in the long run.

[CodeMA]

I gotta say, it sux when things are published like this, they dont bother consulting someone who plays, owns a feild or shop... They just spew the negitive... Im sure when they started playing or were playing they abolutely loved the sport... then they did something stupid... This something stupid appears to be lifting or throwing his goggles down after he got shot in the grill because paint tasted horrible and got hit in the face... So now there going to bash the sport because they didnt follow the rules...

I work at a feild, ref tournaments around the state, etc... at the feild I work at, we have never had an eye related injury, broken bones due to paintball impact, or anything relateing to a paint to body injury for that matter(besides the occational eternal welt from scaring)
I one of the more experianced refs, so I get to baby sit young and female players(the owner is a wee bit over protective at times...and I dont like to argue) on the feild... Not always a bad thing mind you... Id say on average for about half the day of most younger groups out there (we do occatonally allow players as young as 8 or 9 to play) for the first 6 games to half a day of play Im having to play super reff and go wrap my arms around some kids head or scream till my voice is horse to keep your mask on till your off the feild or I tell you you can...or to put there barrel sock on... Some kids are much better then others, some not so much... but with my experiance with the proper eqipment (keeping there masks tight, as they DO have a tendency to get loose) and most importantly GOOD refs to make sure they cant do anything stupid without getting tackled and such....lil kids can play without getting hurt... there new, common sence isnt a gift everyone has, experianced players have an obligation to step up and keep kids safe if they dont want negitive press about this sport...

[SlartyBartFast]

JT started making kid-sized goggles (XFire) in the mid-90's. I don't know if anyone still makes smaller sizes.

I can speak from experience that by the time a person reaches 12-13, their head is usually as big as it's going to get.

My kid is 3 and wears men's medium sized hats. I hope his head doesn't get too much bigger.

He also wears size 6 clothing...

Figure he might have a future playing football.

[gc82000]

I just feel sory for the kid.

[BlindeSeher]

I was in Canada once. The trees were all purple and giant beavers the size of semi trucks wandered the streets. Crazy times.

[Miscue]

Field safety can be horrible. Take a bunch of 10 year old kids, give them a mask and gun... no safety advice... nobody is really watching the kids well, if at all...

It's too bad that this kind of preventable stuff happens.

[athomas]

One of the members from our local paintball forums contacted the reporter that originally did the article. He admitted that the report was sensationalized for ratings.

Paintball was portrayed as dangerous but here is a list of sports with ratings for injuries.

http://www.americansportsdata.com/pr-sportsinjuries.asp

Paintball is very low on the list of injuries. It is a very safe sport. You never hear about a kid getting a baseball in the eye. It does happen You just never hear about it. It makes boring news because it is not as much of an obscure sport.

I think that 10 year olds should be very closely monitored on the field if they are allowed to play. If a group of 10 year olds play, then there should be more reffs on the field than with a normal group. Most young people do not have the thought process developed yet that allow them to figure out the long term consequences of their actions. That being said both the parents and the field have to take some of the responsibility here. Ultimately it was the kids fault for taking off the mask, but the field should review it procedures for safety when allowing younger kids to play.

[mag88888]

SLartyBartFast: yes i was being sarcastic. sorry for forgetting the smilies.........